BREAKING NEWS - NIAMH & SEAN

Reuters (Mom) and APS Dad)  have confirmed that the relationship is back on and stronger than ever.
Both were spotted holding hands watching The Disney Channel last night.

Noo Noo with the Mother in Law (Aisling)

BREAKING NEWS ENDS

BREAKING NEWS - Niamh Skerritt and Sean Murphy

Sources close to the couple have reported that Niamh has chucked Sean, but there is no hard evidence to confirm or support this report.
Although other kids in the playground have said that Sean has been spreading malicious gossip that Niamh sucks her thumb and has a teddy bear!!!  Niamh categorically denies that she sucks her thumb and also said it was ridiculous for anyone to think she only has one teddy bear, she said "I have hundreds' before stomping off.

Sean is second from the left.

This is the last picture on record where they attended a function together. The  inter - school X country championships. (Both finished second in their respective heats)
They were pursued throughout the day and asked to comment on the rumours that they had split, both declined, just saying that there will be an official statement issued in due course via there management company.
More news will be posted as we get it.
BREAKING NEWS ENDS

Sydney

Well the kids are now back at school and some sense of normality has returned.

Our Wend has hit the gym again, and I am still as busy, bike riding, guitar playing, golfing and business hunting. It’s tough, but I’m getting through it!!!
First a bit of a rant. What the heck is going on at The Villa, they are selling everyone who can play, I just don't understand how someone as intelligent as Randy Lerner must be, can go so off the rails in the space of 12 months!!! We have gone from European potential to Championship potential. The Blues fans must be piddling themselves laughing. We looked absolutely clueless against Chelsea in Hong Kong.
Anyway, we had a week in Sydney whilst the kids were off, what a great place for a visit. It’s a three and a half hour flight there and a 5 hour flight back, it’s the wind you wind you know.
We got there at midday, so we got stuck in straight away and had a much civilised lunch at a place called Doyle’s on the Quay. This place sits right on Sydney harbour directly across from The Opera House, and nearly under the bridge, quite surreal, having seen both so often on the TV to actually be there.
As you can well imagine, with its location it was a rhino experience (they know how to charge), but considering where we were not too hefty really.
We then had to get checked in at The Menses Hotel, not a bad place, well located just off the main strip, George Street, within walking distance of everything near the harbour, I can recommend it, if you ever get over here.
The idea was that we would have a quick walk around the harbour and ferry station, as we had arranged to meet Jody, Our Kids daughter , who lives just outside Sydney CBD in a place called Coogee. Trouble was, we all fell asleep, didn’t wake until 5.30pm, so the initial sightseeing had to wait.
We had arranged to meet Jody at a bar alongside the harbour jetty, directly underneath The Opera House, really buzzy place.
Managed to get a livener in in a bar underneath the Overseas passenger Terminal in the harbour before we met Jode.

The Harbour

Jody looked so well, she was over the moon to see us, she doesn’t get too many folk from the UK coming out to see her, so as you can imagine we reminded her of home. Not that she is thinking of going back, although she misses family and friends, she just loves her life in Sydney.
Had a great evening, although it became quickly apparent, that I was there to go to the bar to get the drinks, the kids were there to listen only, ‘cus we couldn’t get a word in edgeways with Our Wend and Jode!!
On the way back, we had to go past the Four Seasons Hotel, there must have been about 40/50 people outside in sleeping bags curled up on the pavement, clearly someone inside they wanted to see, but no idea who it could have been. They were also all very strangely dressed, lots of colour, piercings, weird hairdo’s, army type boots, over the top make up.
Little Peter since we got to Oz has not stopped talking about the fact that he cannot get brioche. Thursday morning we set off to find somewhere to have breakfast (brekkie in the hotel was $35 dollars per head, about 24 quid). Bugger me next door to the hotel was a café, it had an A board outside advertising brioche for that morning as a breakfast special, with bacon and egg.
In we go, Little Peter orders four brioche with chocolate sauce, ‘what’ the waitress says,
‘chocolate? on brioche?’
‘yeah’ says Pete, ‘lots please’
Off she went, the chef then came out, ‘just checking, you want chocolate sauce on your brioche?’
‘yeah’ says Pete, ‘lots please’
‘that’s a new one on us’
Well about 10 minutes later the chef returns, with Pete’s order, ‘brilliant’ he said, ‘I’ve just had some myself, it’s fantastic. We are going to put it on the menu’
So that was it, breakfast at the same place every morning. They did do the most fantastic scrambled eggs though, not quite sure how they made them so creamy, but yum yum.
So all fed we set off, first up the hop on hop off open top bus, thought it would be a quick way to see the sights as a snap shot, then explore them more later in the week.

Yeah, it was cold, b****dy cold!!

St Mary's Cathedral. See later tit bit.

We got to the top of George Street, which is where The Hilton is, and there was a massive crowd outside, dressed pretty much like the kids that were outside the Four Seasons the night before. Lady Gaga was in town, she was obviously here not down the road. Apparently, she was in the basement bar and certain people had tickets to go and join her for coffee. She was to perform that night in the Town Hall for just two hundred people. This was the only gig she was to do in the whole of Australia. Thought she could pull a bigger crowd than that!!
On the bus route was The Capitol Theatre, which has Mary Poppins on at the moment, so let’s get some tickets.
We go in the door with the sign above which says ‘Ticket Sales’, that should do it. Up to the counter
“We would like tickets for two kids and two adults for Sunday at 6 please”
“Ticket sales are through that door there mate”
This was back out the door we had just came through, turn right six feet and in through another door!!! Could have made a mistake, the Aussies are pretty poor with signage.
Out and in again, ring the bell on the desk, guess what, the guy who told us to go out and in again appears!!
I give him my bestest smiley face, although I wanna rip his bleep bleep head off.
“We would like 2 kids and two adults for Sunday at 6 please”
“Sold out”
“Well, what about Tuesday at 1.30?”
“Sold out”
Big, big deep breath
“Well what have you got available”
“Nothing, completely sold out”
Huge breath, clenching of the fists
“So, this runs until February next year, what about a sign on the door to tickets sales, a desk that you actually don't need right now, says MARY POPPINS SOLD OUT. That way people like me won't want to #$%%^%$ kill you!!!"
“If you would like to join the queue in there”, which was exactly where we had just come from, “there may be some cancellations”
Well I was only half way across the counter when Our Wend got hold of the turn ups on me trousers.
I think we pretty much did everything that was on offer in the week, either on foot, by bus or ferry.
The Opera House
They wanted $75 dollars to visit the auditorium and look at the stage. Thought that that was ridiculous to look at a room with hundreds of empty seats, done that down at The Blues loads of times for a lot less!
I have never seen so many people jogging as I did whilst we were walking around The Opera House, you could very easily be knocked over by the throng.

The infamous

Lunchtime in Sydney, sad or what?!!

Manly
This is a half hour ferry ride from Sydney Harbour. It has great beaches and walks, also restaurants. As its winter, it was pretty quiet.
Luna Park
this is like Drayton Manor Park, it even has the people to match!!  All rellies I'm sure must come from Tamworth or Atherstone!!!
We did have the most fantastic paella there for lunch, with the madatory couple of beers and some white wine.
There was a ride in the park, which was a very large drum, you get in and stand with your back against the wall and the drum then spins at very high speed. So much so that the floor you were standing on drops away and you are pinned to the wall be the inertia. It looks sickening.

No, not EXACTLY Disney!!

Nice bum Pete

The kids are in the back ground I'm sure of it!!!!!

Mad completely mad

Another nutter

Do ya think my shutter sped is a bit slow?

The view whilst scoffing our paella at Luna Park. Its a tough old life.

Taronga Zoo
what a stunning location this is for a Zoo. Its a short ferry ride across the harbour and you can see the city skyline from nearly every area inside the zoo.

Friendly or what?

View from the location of the bird show. What a Zoo

Goats, can't remember what make. Basically, hairy and smellie

They don't move much!.

This was just fantastic. To be so close

This sealed it for me!!

Sydney Sky Tower
Not much you can’t see from up there.

There is a revolving restaurant up there

You can see our house from here

Harbour Bridge
walked along it, (well me and the kids did Our wend got the ebee geebys),  not up it, as they wanted $1,000 for four of us!!!. We crossed at about 7 in the evening. Again, the amount of people out jogging was astounding.

Olympic 2000 village
Same deal as The Opera House, lots of dosh to look at empty seats. Peter did have a great couple of hours in the biggest skate park in Sydney though.

The Rocks
Just a real nice place to have a stroll and take a look at the shops, foodies etc, very old part of Sydney, right by the harbour.
I reckon we went to every museum that’s in Sydney
the old barracks and the maritime stood out as the best, got to go in a real polaris type submarine. How did anyone ever spend 6 weeks beneath the waves in one of them? Fantastic exhibition about Scott of the Antartic though, really makes you feel humble when you think what those guys endured, unbelievable. ‘I’m just going outside  for a while and I may not be back’ Gives you a lump in your throat. Soppy old git ain’t I?
Aquarium
Dugong or sea cow, these are only found in the northern waters of Australia,  15ft sharks, and loads of lego figures!!

LEGO

Maybe if I just don't move!

Dugong, very placid looking things

SHARK, you'd need a lora chips with this!

Quietest he had been all week. I wanted to buy the helmet.

More LEGO

Chinese gardens
these are smack bang in the middle of Sydney, kids got to dress up, really cool.

Niamh's attempt at having slitty eyes.

Cool eh?

Aaaah So!!! Something like that.

I told Our Wend if she keeps going to the gym she would turn into Fatima Whitbread.

Puberty, incredible isn't it?

Niamh saw Pete's hairy bum!!!

St Mary's Cathedral
As you may imagine a pretty holy place.
We sat in a pugh just inside and lit some candles as you do. Just next to where we were sitting there was a locked door to the outside, and just the other side was a guy talking on his mobile, oblivious to the fact that he could be heard him perfectly from where we were sitting. If you have ever seen the Dom Jolly TV sketch where he is on a very large phone screaming at the top of his voice, this was just the same, but the expletives that this guy was using would make the hardiest of souls blush. In the end I just had to get up and go out to tell the chap. "Oy you,for @!#$%^&* sake there are some *&^%$# people trying to )*&^%$#@ pray in here, keep it down you @#&*^%$"
Bondi Beach
one of them just must go places.
Yours truly, Team Leader, "we are going on the bus"
"Oh DAAAAD"
The bus had two stops designated as Bondi Beach, one was north, the other south. We, well me, picked north, that turned out to be WRONG! So we decided, well I decided, we would walk. An hour and twenty minutes later we arrived at Bondi, I have to say, I was not as popular as I was an hour and twenty minutes before hand. Anyway, we did get to see Marcel Desailly and Mark Bosnitch, with what they said was the Premier League trophy, in the shopping centre. Well I liked it ok?
There was an Austrian winterwonderland theme on Bondi, (see how I've dropped the word beach? Thats what the locals do) the kids were ice skating, the accordian player was bashing out the umpa umpa music and the guy was yodelling his brains out,( no not Frank Ifield, he is dead) whilst me and Our Wend sat and watched the surf and surfers, surreal.

Bondi. Could be Aberdovey.

Austria by the sea.

Dancing on Ice

Crawling on Ice

We then walked the 7km to Coogee (that was a highlight, just brilliant) and had dinner with Jodie her NEW boyfriend and her flat mate Clare.

There are these saltwater swimming pools all along the walk to Coogee

Coogee

Nice cheeks Noo Noo

aaaaaaaaaaaah

It was a great walk, Pete windged all the way, bless!!
On the last night we met Jodie and Clare again at, supposedly, the oldest pub in Sydney, The Lord Nelson, it was just like walking into your typical English pub, like The Three Tunns in the old days, even thought I recognised some folk!! Proper steak and kidney pies, pickled onions, gherkins, PORK PIE with ENGLISH MUSTARD!!!
We had a brilliant time, and as they say over here 'all good'
Forgot to mention I stayed up until 4am to watch The Open, loved it. My new super hero? Tom Watson, what a man.
The Skerritts in Oz

NEWS FLASH

I've found it, at last, after looking for months.
A pub which serves drinkable Guinness.
God Bless ya Durty Nelly's, Perth
AHHHHHHHHHHHH